Germany's defense minister Boris Pistorius has called for NATO to prepare for "the worst-case scenario" as he issued a warning that the alliance could be attacked within the next decade.
Pistorius' view comes amid doubt over the impact that Donald Trump regaining the White House might have on NATO following the former president's comments last week that he would "encourage" Russia to attack any country that was not paying enough into the alliance.
The Kremlin has framed its full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a proxy war between Moscow and NATO and President Joe Biden has said that Vladimir Putin could eventually attack the alliance, although the Russian president has rejected this.
But Pistorius raised the specter of the alliance being threatened at the Munich Security Conference. He told delegates NATO members' commitment to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense was only a "starting point."
Pistorius also said that a failure by U.S. Congress to approve military aid for Ukraine could hurt security cooperation, harm U.S. defense contractors and weaken Europe. President Joe Biden has blamed the fall of the Donetsk city of Avdiivka on Saturday on the stalled $60 billion aid package for Kyiv.
But Pistorius has also issued an ominous warning about what Vladimir Putin might do not just in Ukraine but afterwards.
"Europe is far away from Iowa or Wisconsin, but still it's very close in terms of security policy," he told Bloomberg in an interview.
"Less security in Europe means less security for the United States," he told the outlet. "I can't predict if and when an attack on NATO territory might occur. But it could happen in five to eight years."
Newsweek has contacted NATO for comment.
Initially criticized for being slow to provide aid to Ukraine, Berlin has been pushing European countries to deliver more weapons to Kyiv and Pistorius praised the contribution made by the U.K. and France.
Berlin has unveiled a €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) package of air-defense and artillery systems, as part of total a German commitment of €28 billion ($30.1 billion).
Germany is also increasing its defense spending, which includes €30 billion ($32 billion) for 35 F-35A Lightning fighter jets from Lockheed Martin and 60 Chinook helicopters from Boeing for about €8 billion ($8.6 billion)
The Kremlin and its propagandists have framed the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a proxy war between Moscow and NATO. In the latest in a long lists of threats over the course of the war, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened the use of nuclear weapons on the U.S.
"The collapse of Russia will have much more terrible consequences than the results of an ordinary, even the most protracted war," Medvedev wrote on Telegram, as he threatened "global war with the Western countries using all the strategic arsenal of our state."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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